Category Archives: Biography

Brief biographies of famous and not so famous people.

Marian Opala’s Fight for Freedom

September 1, 1939, Marian Piotr Opala was an eighteen-year-old student living with his parents in Lodz, Poland, when he heard the news that the Germans had invaded his homeland and were headed toward Lodz from the west. Marian, a law … Continue reading

Posted in Biography | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Katherine (Katie) Florence Perkins (1875-1937) of Pawtucket, Rhode Island: A Single Woman who worked as a bookkeeper, brush-maker, and house-cleaner

Katie Perkins was born in 1875 in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, a small factory city of traditional New Englanders and immigrants from Europe. Her parents were George Henry Perkins of Rhode Island and Margaret Rennie Crawford, an immigrant from Glasgow, Scotland. … Continue reading

Posted in Biography | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Diary of Marie Antoinette McCrillis, widow with two young children, living in San Rafael, California, and Moving to Palmyra, Maine in 1876

Marie Antoinette McCrillis was a 24 year old widow with two children from her marriage to James Sullivan Collamore: Eliza, born in 1871, and Edith, born in 1873. James was a carpenter, born in 1838. Marie, nicknamed Nettie, was born … Continue reading

Posted in Biography | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Diary of a 17-year-old student, Florence Beatrice Brown Phillips, in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, 1917

Florence Beatrice Brown was born August 1, 1899, in Pawtucket Rhode Island to Samuel and Hattie Perkins Brown. She was 17 years old and still a student when she kept this diary for the first three months of 1917. She … Continue reading

Posted in Biography | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Largent and Amos Families of the American South

When in 1911 Claude Christopher Largent and Bessie Lura Amos were married, they brought to their union centuries of ancestral history that spanned the American South and Southeast, as well as early modern England and France. They descended from families … Continue reading

Posted in Biography | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Working Class of Pre-Industrial and Industrial New England: The Phillips and Camac, Brown and Perkins, Families of New Brunswick, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island

The United States is a land of immigrants. This is clearly seen when examining the Phillips, Camac, Brown, and Perkins families of Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New Brunswick. These families were the ancestors of the current living Phillips descendants, including … Continue reading

Posted in American History, Biography, books | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Lawsons of the American Southern Hill Country

The search for the self can take many paths. I especially like the path of the past. Past lives open up so many avenues for exploration of self. I love to engage in a dialogue with past individuals: the way … Continue reading

Posted in American History, Biography | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Randolph Lawson, Veteran of the American Revolution and Southern Appalachian Farmer

Like many early Americans, the story of Randolph Lawson’s full life is very unclear for the historian of today. It is not known precisely when and where he was born, precisely who his parents were, and precisely who his children … Continue reading

Posted in American History, Biography | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Clinton Dan Stackhouse Jr., (1923-2009), World War II Veteran of the War in Europe

Clinton Dan Stackhouse Jr. was born in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, and died in Tulsa, Oklahoma. During the course of his long life he served in the Army Air Corps throughout World War II in Europe. After the war he was an … Continue reading

Posted in American History, Biography | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Maxwell Lawson (1802-1872) and Anna Gray Lawson (1807-1877), Tennessee and Arkansas Pioneers

Maxwell Lawson (perhaps christened as John Maxwell Lawson) was born in 1802 in Tennessee, but who exactly his parents were is unclear. Maxwell married Anna Gray in 1820, but what her ancestry was (besides her parents) is overall unclear. Maxwell … Continue reading

Posted in American History, Biography | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments